Casinos constitute a large and increasingly important business in many countries. In the United States alone, casinos constitute a major source of tax income for several states. In those states, the tax income from the casinos is vital to supporting state services such as education.
Modem casinos offer players a wide variety of game alternatives, including table games such as craps, blackjack and poker. Slot machines, however, such as conventional slot machines, video poker, video keno and video blackjack machines, constitute the major source of income for casinos. Casinos therefore constantly strive to increase the attractiveness and playability of slot machines in ways that attract and retain players.
Unlike table games, which often inspire a sense of camaraderie and social interaction amongst players, slot machines tend to be isolationist in nature. There is typically no sense of team play or social interaction associated with a slot machine. Players often feel that they are playing alone against a large, well-funded opponent.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,580,309 to Piechowiak et al. shows a system for selectively enabling a feature, such as an enhanced bonus for a specified winning outcome, on linked slot machines. The feature is enabled based on a predetermined condition, for example the combined results of previous plays on the individual machines, or the passage of a predetermined amount of time. When enabled, the feature is available to the first one of all of the players to generate a winning outcome as defined by the feature. Once a winning outcome has been obtained by one player, the bonus is awarded and the feature is disabled until the future occurrence of another enabling condition.
While Piechowiak et al. shows a system for selectively linking slot machines to provide a common feature, it does not address the problem of the isolationist nature of slot machine play. The Piechowiak et al. system enables the feature for only the period of time necessary for a first player to achieve a win, and does not encourage team play.
In looking for ways for improve the slot machine playing experience, casinos have implemented large jackpots in the form of both fixed jackpots and progressive jackpots amongst linked slot machines. While attracting players, large jackpots do not promote a sense of team play or social interaction. In fact, they may increase the sense of isolation, each player competing to be the one winner of the jackpot. Further, very large jackpots are not typically available on slot machines of the type that have limited ranges of outcomes, such as video poker machines.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,564,700 to Celona shows an exemplary system for providing progressive jackpots for slot machine play. In the Celona system, the progressive jackpot is split amongst multiple players of linked machines who happen to be playing at the time the progressive jackpot outcome occurs on any one of the machines. By splitting the jackpot amongst multiple players, the system extends the basic concept of a progressive jackpot to provide some semblance of group play. However, the group aspect of the game is still quite passive in nature; that is, a player constitutes part of the group only if by happenstance he is playing a linked machine at the time the progressive jackpot occurs. Other than playing the machine in a manner to be eligible for the progressive jackpot, a player can take no particular action alone or as a member of the group to increase the likelihood of winning the progressive jackpot.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,324,035 to Morris et al. shows a video lottery system adapted for competitive play. In contrast to a conventional lottery, wherein a player simply buys an instant or a drawing-based ticket to determine a result, the Morris et al. video lottery is adapted to enable players to buy tickets in a competitive manner. More specifically, lottery pools having known quantities of winning tickets are established, and players are provided both statistical data regarding the number of winning tickets remaining in the pool, and the ability to buy tickets from the pool in a real-time manner. Players may then buy tickets from the pool in a competitive manner, basing the speed and timing of their purchases on their individual strategies of considering the pooled statistical data.
While Morris et al. is representative of one effort to increase the attractiveness of what has been traditionally a game played in isolation, it is quite limited in application. More specifically, it appears to apply only to video lottery. Further, it introduces only the concept of competition, and has no discernible aspect of team play or social interaction.
With respect specifically to video poker, the popularity of these machines has increased significantly over the past years. Many players appreciate that video poker games offer comparatively good odds, and will go to the trouble of studying strategies which increase their chances of winning. Further enhancing the attractiveness of video poker machines could result in substantially increased profitability for casinos. Creating a sense of social interaction and team play could provide such a result.
Previous attempts to link video poker machines, as known to applicants, have not solved the problem of social isolation. One such effort includes the provision of a progressive jackpot, such as Mega-Poker, for video poker players. In Mega-Poker, many video poker machines are linked throughout the state of Nevada, providing a progressive jackpot to the eventual winner. A stand-alone video poker machine, known as "Five Deck Frenzy," uses multiple decks to increase the types of winning hands, thereby allowing for some larger jackpots. As noted above, while having the beneficial effect of attracting players, large and progressive jackpots do not create a sense of team play or social interaction.
An electronic poker table is known wherein up to eight players can play competitively, choosing to draw, fold, or otherwise play using the electronic interface. This, however, is an electronic implementation of the conventional table game, and does not address the issue of improving the player attractiveness of a video poker machine.
In sum, slot machines constitute a significant source of income to casinos. Yet, they may fail to attract a large number of potential players who desire team relationships and social interaction as a necessary part of a casino experience. It would therefore be desirable and beneficial to both the casinos and the players to provide a slot machine that promotes a sense of team play and social interaction. Such a machine could increase profitability to the casino while attracting players not typically drawn to the stand-alone type of play typical of slot machines.